Chris Thomas , Knoxville News Sentinel
A pair of fast starts extended Farragut High School’s football season on Friday at Bill Clabo Field.
The Admirals scored the game’s first 14 points and then the final 20 to spoil McMinn County’s postseason return, 40-21, in the first round of the Class 5A state playoffs.
Farragut (10-1) will travel to play Rhea County (9-2) in the second round for the second consecutive season. The Admirals fell to the Golden Eagles 40-34 last year.
“It’s going to be a good game,” Farragut running back/linebacker Cooper Hardin said. “We’re going to get it back for our seniors. I don’t think we should have lost that game.”
Farragut quarterback Adam Fulton completed 10 of 23 passes for 257 yards and three first-half touchdowns against McMinn County. He also threw an interception.
He threw first-quarter touchdown passes to Jack DeVault (25 yards) and Braden Collins (73) in the first quarter, giving the Admirals a 14-0 lead.
McMinn County responded with 21 unanswered points and led 21-20 at halftime after Donell Armour’s 57-yard scamper, Xavier Abernathy’s 1-yard dive and quarterback Bradley Hayes’ 57-yard reception from receiver Chris Knowles.
But it was all Farragut from there.
Fulton connected with tight end Jacob Warren on a 34-yard touchdown pass late in the second quarter, and Hardin shifted momentum in Farragut’s favor by recovering a Zane Byas fumble on the opening possession of the second half.
Hardin’s 4-yard TD run two plays later gave Farragut the lead for good at 26-20. The Admirals stopped McMinn County on downs on the ensuing possession, before pushing their lead to 34-21 on Amon Johnson’s 1-yard run with 3:56 left in the quarter.
Johnson added a 4-yard TD rush in the fourth. Farragut outgained McMinn County 396-260.
“We talked to our defense at halftime, about responding,” Farragut coach Eddie Courtney said. “We knew we could score, but we had to go in there and shut this thing down. And we did.”
Farragut played Friday without star punter/kicker Joe Doyle, an Under Armour All-American. Doyle suffered a mild hamstring injury when he slipped and fell in the hours leading into the game.
Freshman Aidan Barrett took over as placekicker, missing two point-after-attempts. Fulton punted admirably in Doyle’s place, including a 47-yarder out of his own end zone.
“We expect Joe to be back,” Courtney said. “But at that stage, we didn’t have time to wrap it. It happened about 5:30 today on our way down here.”
Armour rushed for 161 yards and the touchdown on 24 carries to lead McMinn County, making its first playoff appearance since 2012. The Cherokees mustered just 72 yards in the second half.
“We had a pretty good game plan,” McMinn County coach Bo Cagle said. “A lot of times those guys made good plays on catches. Our defensive backs were getting better the whole game, but our offense didn’t hold up long enough to give us a chance.”
Contact Chris Thomas at chris.thomas@knoxnews.com. Follow him at twitter.com/christhomaskns
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to checkout CRFOTO.com every week for a full photo gallery from Friday’s game. See a photo you like? They are also available for purchase directly from his website. Click here for this week’s photos.
OFFICIAL GAME STATS
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